Japan struggling to prepare

The defending champions have had a poor preparation according to coach Ivica Osim.

07 Jul 2007 05:44 GMT

Ivica Osim, second from left, is already lining up the excuses ahead of Japan's title defence [EPA]

Japan, defending Asian Cup champions, are struggling against time, fatigue, problematic weather and coach Ivica Osim's frustration to peak for their first match of the tournament against Qatar in Hanoi on Monday.

"You'd better become realists. My job has no choice but to be done in real conditions," a fired up Osim said when asked if his squad were ready for their campaign to win a third straight continental crown.

The Bosnian alluded to Japan's domestic J-League season which only shut down a week ago after playing two matches every week since its kick-off in March, meaning he hasn't had full access to all but two of his 23 players.

"If I don't know about the players' conditions, it will be an insult to J-League managers. If you think I can readjust their conditions in three days, it will be an insult to me."

Japan are in Group B with 2006 Asian Games winners Qatar, 2007 Gulf Cup champions United Arab Emirates and joint-hosts Vietnam in a tricky group based in Hanoi.

Osim, who led the former Yugoslava to the 1990 World Cup semi-finals, fielded all his players, including Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura and Frankfurt's Naohiro Takahara, in a training match with a local army club on Friday night which Japan won 3-0.

"I told them to give 100 per cent and see for themselves how much they can do in these conditions. Ask them how much they played in this weather," said the curt 66-year-old.

Tough conditions

The evening practice match was played in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius with 80 per cent humidity, just one day after the Japanese trained in typhoon rain only 20 hours after their arrival from Tokyo.